Apple seeks digital photography expert for iPad development team

Adding to the mounting evidence that Apple plans to add cameras to its next-generation iPad, the company's digital photography team is hiring a software engineer to create applications for the iPad platform.

In a new job listing posted this week discovered by AppleInsider, Apple revealed that it is looking for someone to fill the position of "iOS Photography Software Engineer." The role, based at the company's Cupertino, Calif., campus, will ideally be filled by a "dynamic software engineer with the drive and desire to deliver great photography applications for the Mac and iPad platforms."

The job listing notes that Apple's digital photography team has delivered applications for the Mac platform in the past, including iPhoto and Aperture. The new position will be related to text rendering and editing, as well as HTML generation, for publishing and viewing photo-based content, presumably on the Web.

Apple seeks an employee with "strong skills with established and emerging web technologies," including HTML5 and CSS. Another "key requirement" for the role is a worker who has a passion for photography.

The position could be related to the new Photo Stream feature referenced in early beta builds of iOS 4.3, Apple's next operating system upgrade for iOS devices including the iPad. A description of the MobileMe service said it would upload and store the last thirty days of photos and download them to "all of your devices."

The second beta of iOS 4.2 also included a wallpaper image with icons showing FaceTime, Camera, and PhotoBooth applications for the iPad. FaceTime is Apple's new standard for video chat, already available on the iPhone 4, fourth-generation iPod touch, and Mac platform, while PhotoBooth allows users to edit and apply effects to photos and videos.

Apple is expected to add cameras to its next-generation iPad, with a forward-facing lens for FaceTime chat, and a rear-facing camera for taking photos. Further evidence of cameras on the second-generation iPad has come in the form of purported cases made overseas.

Aperture for iPad, my wife was just asking about this! The iPad is a great on the go tool for all sorts of things & adding support for photo editing on a professional level is a no brainer, would make it a very powerful tool for a photographer (especially if the rumors of SD slot turn out to be true).

Aperture for iPad, my wife was just asking about this! The iPad is a great on the go tool for all sorts of things & adding support for photo editing on a professional level is a no brainer, would make it a very powerful tool for a photographer (especially if the rumors of SD slot turn out to be true).

I share your enthusiasm for the possibilities. However, the snag is the file size. A really large RAW image would not only be a bit of a chore for the poor iPad's little heart but what about getting a shoot of say 200 of them into it and out of it and where would you put them anyway? 64 GIGs (or even 128 Gigs) wouldn't last long. ... I agree in the future this is a possibility but there are some serious problems with an iPad Aperture at the moment. I think for now this will be a consumer effort only. Aperture users need MBP i7s and Mac Pros for now.

I share your enthusiasm for the possibilities. However, the snag is the file size. A really large RAW image would not only be a bit of a chore for the poor iPad's little heart but what about getting a shoot of say 200 of them into it and out of it and where would you put them anyway? 64 GIGs (or even 128 Gigs) wouldn't last long. ... I agree in the future this is a possibility but there are some serious problems with an iPad Aperture at the moment. I think for now this will be a consumer effort only. Aperture users need MBP i7s and Mac Pros for now.

I share your enthusiasm for the possibilities. However, the snag is the file size. A really large RAW image would not only be a bit of a chore for the poor iPad's little heart but what about getting a shoot of say 200 of them into it and out of it and where would you put them anyway? 64 GIGs (or even 128 Gigs) wouldn't last long. ... I agree in the future this is a possibility but there are some serious problems with an iPad Aperture at the moment. I think for now this will be a consumer effort only. Aperture users need MBP i7s and Mac Pros for now.

Need is a very relative term. I do a lot of work with Aperture on a lowly MacBook. You don't have to store your images on the iPad to use Aperture's tools.

The interesting part is that Apple is looking to boost the photo side of the iPad. The concern is that it will be for iPad3, with iPad2 only having a back camera from the iPod touch. I would love to see the iPhone camera used for iOS. Gives Apple more economies of scale and boosts the user experience.

Aperture for iPad, my wife was just asking about this! The iPad is a great on the go tool for all sorts of things & adding support for photo editing on a professional level is a no brainer, would make it a very powerful tool for a photographer (especially if the rumors of SD slot turn out to be true).

Yes! When I first saw the Photos app for iPad, my first thought was, "I wish I could edit as well!". I suspect that the iPad's low specs are to blame. If the 2nd-gen iPad gets suped up (dual core processor, upgraded graphics, 512-1GB RAM), maybe this will be addressed.

The large display, SD-reading abilities and touch interface make it PERFECT for photo editing.